She's a rainbow

The aquatic world once again proves it worth by shedding some light on the dark mysteries of body armour, robots and flexible electronics.

Link: HERE
 
The characteristically boxy fish has a shell made up of interlocking hexagonal scales, complete with a raised star-like structure in the centre that distributes stress across the surface. 

After dissecting the scales, researchers discovered a flexible inner layer of interlocking collagen fibres that are tough to penetrate.

"The boxfish is small and yet it survives in the ocean where it is surrounded by bigger, aggressive fish, at a depth of 50 to 100 meters," said Wen Yang, the lead author of the paper describing the discovery. "After I touched it, I realised why it can survive – it is so strong but at the same time so flexible."